Soccer announces 2011 schedule on Tuesday

SAN ANTONIO — The Southland Conference Tournament Champion UTSA soccer program unveiled its 2011 schedule on Tuesday. The ledger features seven home matches and a trio of NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.

“The team is excited about the challenges ahead,” head coach Steve Ballard said. “Our non-conference schedule should prepare us well for Southland action and another deep run in the conference tournament and beyond.”

The campaign kicks off with a pair of neutral site matches against Fresno State (Aug. 19) and UC Irvine (Aug. 21) at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station. Both the Bulldogs and Anteaters were NCAA Tournament teams a season ago, with UC Irvine advancing to the third round.

The following weekend finds the Roadrunners in Dallas and Waco for contests at SMU (Aug. 26) and Baylor (Aug. 28) before tilts at Texas (Sept. 2) and Texas Southern (Sept. 6) wrap up a season-long six-match road stretch to start the fall.

UTSA will host Prairie View A&M on Sept. 16 in its home opener and close the non-conference slate with home games against UTEP (Sept. 18) and Weber State (Sept. 23). The five-match home stand concludes with a pair of Southland tilts against Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 30) and Sam Houston State (Oct. 2) to open league action.

Five of the last seven matches come away from the Alamo City beginning with I-35 rival Texas State on Oct. 9. Trips to Central Arkansas (Oct. 14) and Northwestern State (Oct. 16) precede the final home stand of the season, which includes matchups against Lamar (Oct. 21) and McNeese State (Oct. 30).

The Birds conclude the regular season the following weekend at Nicholls (Oct. 28) and at defending regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana (Oct. 30).

The Southland Tournament is slated to be played from Nov. 3-6 at the Demon Soccer Complex in Natchitoches, La.